Genesis 3-4, the first sin and after

Satan has only ever had to use one temptation with all men, because it is so effective. He used it on Eve first and we haven't learned since then!

It comes in two parts:

1) Did God REALLY say......?

2) Think for yourself what's right and good!

Now thinking for yourself is not a bad thing at all -- unless God has already given His clear Word on the subject, in which case all the thinking in the world won't change His truth!

And the first part... Did God really say?.... how many times do we even hear or see that among Christians? The very sad thing is that most Christians seem to be somewhat illiterate where the Bible is concerned, so they don't know if God really said the whatever thing or not! And yet, when Jesus was confronted by Satan in the wilderness during His testing, the only defense He used against Satan's wiles was Scripture! We would do well to imitate our Lord and know Scripture so well that it was readily available in our minds and hearts at every turn. That is why the Baptist Board has two Bible studies! Most Christian boards don't have any.

The serpent, used by Satan, said Eve would be like God, "knowing good and evil." So many times I have seen the mistake being made by folks challenging the Bible that this shows God wants His people ignorant! It means nothing of the kind! Adam and Eve had walked with God and lived in Eden -- they already KNEW the good! All that was left, then, was the evil. And to know that would mean knowing death, illness, violence in their children, etc. etc. It was not God's perfect will for them to know these things, even though He knew it would happen. In fact, the remedy was already in place. In Revelation 13:8 we read that Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation (or creation) of the world.

The answer was in place before the problem arose. That's just like God!

And, contrary to a very old argument, the first sin was not sex! Sex was part of God's plan for us all along -- the man and the woman were to be of one flesh.

The sin was -- and has been ever since -- disobedience.

And, just like our own guilty children today, Adam and Eve passed the buck when it came time to own up to responsibility. Adam actually blamed God: "This woman YOU gave me..."

Eve blamed the serpent.

So, before God talks to Adam and Eve, He talks to the serpent. It is at this point the promise of a future Messiah is given and the indication of a virgin birth is also given ("the seed of the woman" -- women don't have 'seed' -- men do!)

The Lord then makes garments of skin for them. This involved killing an animal for the hide, or leather. The first sacrifice took place immediately after the first sin. God performed that sacrifice, as He also performed the last with Jesus Christ.

Adam and Eve are then denied the Tree of Life and the way is barrd to them.

Did the Tree of Life GIVE life? Some think it did. But we see it again in Revelation 22 where its leaves are for the healing of the nations. If the Tree of Life was for healing, that probably makes more sense as life itself is from God. But I have heard a number of arguments concerning this issue.

In chapter 4, Cain and Abel make their appearance and the first murder takes place: Cain kills his brother, Abel.

What was the mark the Lord put on Cain? WE DON"T KNOW! How can we know? Unless one of Noah's sons married on of Cain's descendants, Cain's line was wiped out at the Flood!

But Cain, it is written, went out and built a city. That means that Cain and Abel were not teenagers when this happened, but somewhat older men, as the population had already increased exponentially. There were enough people for a city.

We read that in Cain's line were Jubal and Jabal, musician and herdsman. They had a brother, Tubal-Cain, "who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron." So metallurgy was also known and employed. The idea, then, that these antediluvians -- these people before the Flood -- had a degree of technical expertise is certainly hinted at here.

Note that in the beginning of chapter 4, the first murder is highly significant. However a few generations later, things had already gone down so much Lamech boasted to his two wives that he had killed a young man for only wounding him. Murder was no longer that big a deal!

Hebrew legend has it, in the meanwhile, that Naamah is mentioned in Genesis 4 because she was Noah's wife. I have no idea about the veracity of this.

Chapter four closes with the strange sentence, "Then (or 'at that time') men began to call upon the name of the Lord."

If they had forgotten Him then this is good. If, however, this means that they were so far away from God that they could only call on the NAME of the Lord -- this was all that was left to them -- then this is a very bad thing!

According to the Tablet Theory, all of chapters 3 and 4 were written by Adam himself.

 

I never thought about that parallel before. Thank you! That is really interesting!

This is the fun part about a Bible study, when someone else adds thoughts. I hope you are able to hang around a bit, and I also hope others join in occasionally. I have so much to learn, and God has given each of us special insights in different ways.

At any rate, thank you for the post above..... I will be thinking about that for a long time, pushing and pulling that picture around in my brain. This is great!